As a startup, one of the most important business functions that you should understand is how to handle and manage your data strategies. Being data-driven can tremendously improve your decision-making and allow you to stay ahead of the curve as you make smart choices.

While you don’t need to be an IT expert in order to adopt efficient data management strategies, it is worth educating yourself regarding the basics so that you can be confident using that data for your everyday business needs.

To help you get started, we highlight some fundamental and simple data strategies that can take your business high tech startup to the next level. 

Store and Share Data Strategies Easily

As a first step, you need to invest in a system that allows your startup to store and share data with ease. The goal should be to eliminate any data silos and make the information accessible to all employees.

Begin by carrying out a preliminary assessment of your startup, such as the size of the company, existing IT structure, computer applications in use, and if applicable, cloud services being utilized. This will give you the information you need to identify the kind of data storage your startup requires and guide you towards the optimal storage solution and digital services for your business.

For example, you can consider investing in a network-attached storage device such as Western Digital NAS that comes with pre-integrated storage services to preserve your data. This will not only add storage space but also make it easier for employees to collaborate with each other as they will be able to access data remotely in one central location.

Train Employees in Data Use and Management

Gathering, storing, and accessing data are just the first step in your startup’s overall data strategy. Equally important is knowing how to analyze and use that data to make strategic decisions. In this regard, it is important to train your employees on how to use and manage business data.

While many companies may opt for standardized data training courses, we suggest exploring solutions that offer tailored training so that your organization’s individual needs are addressed. The training and development your startup offers should have three main objectives:

• Enable employees to understand the data.
• Instruct employees on how to analyze the data.
• Teach employees on how to apply the data to make informed business decisions. 

Make Use of Data for Business Functions

Knowing how to use data to improve business performance and operations is integral for any data strategy. This means sifting through vast amounts of data gathered by your company to identify which type of data matters and is most useful for business functions.

For example, as with any business, your startup will need to accurately analyze customer data to understand customer touchpoints. Having an understanding of customer journeys can help to improve their overall experience and increase conversion opportunities. Similarly, as a startup, you can make use of forecasting data to present information about predicated revenue and costs to your investors in order to secure additional funding.

Generally, using data for your business needs is critical for achieving both short- and long-term business goals. It can help you to not only improve your overall business strategy but enable you to explore opportunities to grow your business, improve your product or service, and streamline internal operations. 

Protect Your Data Strategies

Considering how data breaches are becoming common, it is important that your startup takes every step possible to protect and secure your data infrastructure against both hardware failure and malware or hacking.

A data protection strategy can solve your problems by clearly articulating the measures you need to take to protect your data. For example, start by creating a reliable backup system for your data and invest in a trustworthy antivirus software. You should also consider additional cybersecurity measures such as two-factor authentication, encryption software, and an affordable VPN.

Additionally, hire in-house cyber security experts or outsource the job to a reliable company to ensure round-the-clock data security for your business. 

The Bottom Line

As a high tech startup, knowing how to effectively and efficiently manage and use data should be at the top of your to-do list. By setting up a data strategy, you can begin to define your data needs and identify the management tools or software you will need in order to handle and make sense of the data.

Lastly, remember to invest in a data analytics team so that you have a dedicated set of employees with a specialist skill set who can make good use of relevant data to suit your business growth needs.